Mission Accomplished: Panama (Warning: Photo-Heavy Post!)
We've been back from our Panama medical mission trip for a few days, and I wanted to share some pictures and thoughts for those who are interested (as many of you were so kind and generous with your donations to this endeavor). I'm still mentally and emotionally processing the whole thing, so please forgive me if this seems a bit disjointed. Mostly, I just wanted to share with you the beautiful faces of those we had the privilege to serve.
First of all, Panama is a stunning country with grand vistas. Her people are generally materially poor, but (at least speaking for those we were around) are rich beyond measure in relationship. Most of our time was spent in the remote village of El Guabal, about 5-1/2 hours west of Panama City. To reach the clinic, we had to go up a mountain road with tight switchbacks, which induced carsickness in several of us (including me). After reaching the clinic one day early on, falling out the door of the van and hurling up my breakfast, I took to Dramamine and this lovely get-up to avoid inhaling bus fumes and burning tire rubber. (Our missionary thereafter dubbed the van "The Vomit Comet", which was quite apt.)
Once those issues were settled, the ride up and down the mountain was thoroughly enjoyable. The scenery was stunning. Birds of paradise and wild orchids grew alongside the road, and I find myself missing the daily commute!
I don't have a final count as to how many patients we treated, but it was more than 300. That word spreads among the indigenous community without the benefit of cell phone or other modern means amazes me, and proves that humans aren't as dependent on technology as we have come to believe ourselves to be. We had 3 doctors (an internist, an OB/Gyn, and a pediatrician), as well as nurses, nursing students, med students, and your garden-variety volunteers such as DH and myself. The doctors were just wonderful, and I remain touched by how each of them gave up time in their busy practices to go and treat those who otherwise have no health care whatsoever. Just a little backstory: The only previous healthcare provider in this area were government workers who treated the indigenous people as though they were second-class citizens. Naturally, this did not inspire the people to attend the clinic, and caused them to distrust outsiders even more than they already did. When our missionaries began the clinic in this area about 7 years ago, they were initially met with distrust and resistance, but once they proved themselves in friendship, the locals slowly came to trust - and to come to the clinic. Now, since many of the volunteers go back more than once annually, relationships have been established and people delight in seeing one another. It's genuine, and it's beautiful. The people trust us. There's a lot of laughter in the air.
This was our daily view from the clinic's waiting area.
Every patient was treated for chronic cough. They cook inside their huts over open flame, and all of them have respiratory issues from smoke inhalation. There has been a push in this area to build better stoves for the people, but so far it's been a failure. They revert to methods they have known since time immemorial, so studies are still being made as to how to help (if we even can). All are treated for parasites. Many are treated for fungus, especially foot fungus since their shoes (if they wear them) never dry in this rainy environment. One 13-week old infant was brought in with probable pneumonia, in pretty dire distress. Our pediatrician treated the child for two days in a row and his little body responded beautifully. We hope and pray that he continues to heal and to thrive, but we can only do so much. That's part of the pain in all of this.
One man came in with active TB, and the internist has advised all of us to go get tested. Ugh.
This is Dr. S. She is Puerto Rican and brimming with life. She had so many funny stories that kept us all in stitches, but she was also very serious about treating as many people per day as possible. Nobody was ever turned away and asked to come back tomorrow.
Here she pays a house call to a gentleman who is 106 years old. Yep - 106 years old. He's in amazing condition for that age, and attributes his longevity to only eating the food that he grows himself.
This is Dr. K paying a house call to an elderly woman. The woman has dressed in her very finest for the occasion.
This is Dr. M. What a delight it was to have a pediatrician who would engage in water gun "war" with the little ones! Those kiddos absolutely loved the play time.
This family of women and children walked for four days to reach the clinic. Once there, they waited quietly and patiently until each one was seen, and then they had that long walk back home. I cannot fathom that kind of life, but intend to remember these faces the next time I feel I've been "inconvenienced."
The colorful dresses are the traditional wear of the Ngobe-Bugle Indians. They're just beautiful. Few who wear these dresses speak Spanish, but retain their indigenous language which has sort of a guttural, raspy sound to it. The adults generally do not smile for the camera, having never been conditioned to do so.
To be continued ...
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoThe children were all beyond precious and gorgeous, but this little one especially captivated me. She was Ngoble-Bugle, spoke no Spanish, and was at the clinic with an older woman that I believe was her grandmother. She wore a beaded necklace which indicates that she is from a high ranking family in the tribe. Well, let me tell you - this baby girl KNEW she was "all that." She was seriously a little indigenous rainforest diva, prancing around like she owned the place. There was something sweet yet almost feral about her, and I could barely take my eyes from her. She was spirited. She was naughty. I am still smitten.
Here are some more gorgeous faces that lit up my week.
(You certainly DO, little brother! You certainly do.)
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI loved this old couple.
This family is having their prescriptions filled by our wonderful, elderly pharmacist who joined us from Kansas City. He was simply amazing with the people, taking the time to speak to each one, even the children, in their language, and making sure that they knew exactly how to take their medicine. He truly cared, and it was well evident.
This is Daniela. I loved her outfit. Her family had adopted one of the many stray dogs in the area, and it had come to be the protector of the children, actually herding them away from danger and keeping a watchful eye on them at all times. The family had stories of several acts of bravery by the dog (he even went back and retrieved a hat that had fallen by the wayside on one of the family's treks), but they were so sad because the dog had been injured and was likely dying. Our doctors were devastated because there was not a thing they could do. I suppose it's still a blessing that the dog actually had a loving family, as most of the animals in this region do not. When the people don't eat daily, pets are a luxury that cannot be afforded.
I like unusual faces. I liked his a lot. He always had a warm smile for us, and wanted to help as he could.
This little girl was 13, and is holding her baby sister. It did not escape me that that's the same age gap as between me and my brother, and I was touched by her devotion to the baby of the family. See the marks on the older girl's face? Most of the people have these scars on their bodies. This is the result of insects that burrow beneath the skin, and the local custom of burning the larvae out. Sounds utterly horrible, and yet another reason I'm thankful that there are medical professionals willing to bring modern treatment to these people who need it desperately.
Washing hands after a raucous session of soap bubble-blowing.
Typical homes on the hillside.
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoThis is some of our group (DH and me at the front) on the suspension bridge. At the other end begins the comarca, or tribal reservation, which we did not enter out of respect for the established boundaries.
We spent about a day and a half in Panama City. Instead of going to the canal, our Spanish-speaking friend led DH and me on a whirlwind trek through the inner city, which was exhausting and fascinating. I went through not one but two fish markets and lived to tell about it. No small feat, considering my lifetime fish phobia! I remain amazed at the skyline of Panama City. It's pretty incredible.
I think that's about all I have for now (thank goodness, right?). I can't put together any profound expressions, although they're inside of me, but I want you all to know again how grateful I am for your support and I hope these pictures of these amazingly beautiful people of Panama tell you how much your gifts mean.User
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoUser
6 years agoThanks again! We are already talking about returning next year, and really hope we get an opportunity to do so. Although ... gonna have to revisit our accommodations. We fully expected this trip to be unglamorous, but weren't quite prepared for the prison-cell quality of the room we received in the very small hotel where our group stayed. What you see here is pretty much the extent of it, with the exception of a tiny bathroom just out of camera range (cold water only, medicine cabinet literally falling off the wall, broken toilet seat), and a tiny little bump-out where one could hang a few clothes that never fully dried when you washed them out. Bugs infiltrated nightly. No furniture in the room except for the bed (which we didn't dare lounge around on, since the sheets were clean but we were not when we came in from the work each day), and that little leaning plywood shelf. DH snores like a freight train, so this one little bed for the two of us did not cut it. On two nights I got up and tried to sleep outside in a hammock (it gets cold in the middle of the night, so those were not my finest hours), and on other nights I "bed-hopped" (oh yeah, there were jokes about that) and crashed in the rooms of a couple of other women which was a bit awkward for everyone involved.
We tried to remind ourselves that this pitiful little room would've been considered positively palatial by the indigenous people that we served at the clinic, and believe it or not, that did actually make me feel grateful for the cold running water in the shower. We were reminded of the comforts we sometimes take for granted, that so many in the world go without, and I'm not too proud to say that I missed those comforts very much. I was so happy when we made it to our room at the Crowne Plaza in Panama City. Night and day contrast.To end this on a positive note, the grounds at the hotel with the prison-cell room were lovely.
And after seeing this little planter guy made from an old tire, I'm inspired to try something similar with the old tire we currently have leaning against the side of our house like we're trashy. This is just goofy enough to appeal greatly to me.
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoDedtired - thanks for the kind words about my braids! I refer to it as my Rhoda Penmark "do" ... You remember her from The Bad Seed, right? ;-)
DH and I also wondered how useful we would be on this medical mission, since neither of us has any training (beyond basic CPR). Our fears of inadequacy were quickly put to rest when we had to just jump in and start doing. DH was the muscles of the group, hefting heavy equipment that needed to be loaded and unloaded, and he also overcame his lack of Spanish-speaking ability when working with patients who needed reading glasses. We did have translators who were a huge help, but once they gave us some rudimentary phrases we were able to do a good deal without their help. I assisted him with the reading glasses, and one day we distributed shoes to the children, which required fitting little feet. Most of my time was spent as patient coordinator, acting as sort of a "gatekeeper" and ensuring that the flow went smoothly. My forte is administrative work, and I found my skills well put to use in the tasks I was assigned.There is so much work out there to be done, and there are so many roles that need to be filled. Think of it this way: The Air Force doesn't just need pilots. ;-)
l pinkmountain
6 years ago
dedtired
6 years agoUser
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoPinkmountain - I ended up wearing my Keen hikers. I actually took a picture of them one day after arriving back at the hotel from the clinic -- I guess I wanted to capture how muddy they were getting on a daily basis, which wasn't as bad as I'd feared.
They were fine for my purposes. I wore them with SmartWool socks and liners, and noticed one day when I peeled them off that my pedicure had literally melted. I did a good deal of walking over very rocky, uneven terrain in the area around the clinic and wouldn't have wanted to be in anything less substantial.In the evenings when we went to dinner (and after I'd washed my stinky feet), I just schlepped around in flip flops. Once we reached Panama City, I was back in the hikers though, and was glad that I had them, especially when I ended up traipsing through the fish markets with all the gunky guts on the floor. ::shudder::
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6 years ago
LynnNM